


Never Learned To Live Without Regret

by hobbleit



Category: The Musketeers (2014)
Genre: Angst, M/M, Moving On, Past Relationship(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-01
Updated: 2015-04-11
Packaged: 2018-03-20 18:58:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,136
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3661332
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hobbleit/pseuds/hobbleit
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Both Constance and Milady are still in love with their respective Musketeers.  But when both finally see the light and decide to take a second chance with them, they find that they have left it too late, for D`Artagnan and Athos have moved on to each other.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Milady

**Author's Note:**

> For the BBC Musketeers Kink Meme. First fic for a new fandom *runs and hides*
> 
> The title is taken from Regret by Anathema.

**Milady**

Milady didn’t think that her heart was capable of breaking.  In fact, if you asked the right person they would even say that she didn’t even have a heart at all but that was not true.  Her heart just belonged to someone else.  Athos. 

She wanted to hate him.  She had thought that she could punish him, have him killed like he had tried to do to her but in the end event he thought of him dead hurt her more than she could ever have believed.  She had realised that she could not fight her feelings anymore, she loved Athos and always would.  Milady knew that she was a terrible person; she had lied, cheated and killed more people than she could bear to think about but Athos made her feel like a better person.  He always had.  He hadn’t known her past when they were married and the only look she could see in his eyes was that of love.  She wanted to see that look again.

Athos was a hard man to track down and there were many taverns in Paris but Milady finally managed to find him.  She stood in the shadows outside and waited for him to leave the tavern.  After what seemed like hours the door opened and she saw the outline of her husband step out.  Her heart skipped a beat when she saw him.  She had always thought he was handsome, even ay his most drunk or battered and bruised.  She took a few steps forward intending to speak to him but she stopped when she noticed he was not alone.

D’Artagnan followed him out and Milady took to the shadows once again.  She watched as Athos turned around and stood so close to the younger man that it made Milady wonder what was going on with them.  She saw Athos lean in and whisper something in d’Artagnan’s ear.  The younger man grinned, grabbed Athos’ hand and dragged him down the nearest alley.  Milady stalked across the street and felt her heart break at the sight.

Athos was leaning against the wall with d’Artagnan pressed up against him, his hands running through the younger man’s hair.  She saw d’Artagnan smile and lean in close, pressing a gentle kiss on Athos’ lips.  She watched as Athos pulled his young lover closer to him and held him tight.  She wanted to be d’Artagnan.

The part which hurt her the most was the look Athos gave d’Artagnan when they finally parted.  It was a look of pure love.  It was the look he had given her once upon a time.  In that moment Milady knew that she had lost him.

She had always assumed that Athos would always be hers.  She thought that he would always wait for her but he had moved on.  He was in obviously very much in love with the younger Musketeer.  A wave of regret washed over Milady as she saw Athos whisper something in d’Artagnan’s ear and a moment later they exited the alley together, their night not over yet.

A moment later Milady exited the shadows and watched as they disappeared into the distance.  She wished that her heart could not break.  She wished that she could simply turn away and feel nothing over what she had seen.  But she could not.  She loved Athos, he was the only man she had ever given his heart to and she could do nothing but watch him walk away with another love. 

Milady swallowed her regret deep down and replaced the mask on her face that she always wore, the blank canvas that no-one could see through.  Slipping back into the shadows she disappeared from view.

She was too late.  She would always be too late.


	2. Constance

Constance was hiding in the gardens of the Louvre avoiding anyone who might ask her what was wrong.  She was crying heavily, sobs wracking her body as the words d’Artagnan said to her rattled round and round her brain.

_I’m in love with someone else._

She had waited too long and now he had found another to love and Constance was heartbroken.  The only thing that had sustained her through the last few months of her marriage was the thought of being with d’Artagnan.  She had fought her attraction to him for so long that she had missed her chance.

She should hate him, she thought.  She should have been angry at him when he told her that he had moved on but she couldn’t.  He wouldn’t wait forever for her, she knew that, but a selfish part of her wanted him to.  She wanted him to be hers.

He had looked so happy when he told her, though, and she couldn’t hate him for that.  He had every right to some happiness as anyone else, it was so often in short supply after all but that didn’t mean that Constance was going to feel any less broken hearted.  She had gone to him intending to tell him that she was leaving Bonacieux and wanted to start a relationship with d’Artagnan but she had been completely blindsided by his news.

She wondered who it was.

He hadn’t told her.  He’d just told her that he had fallen for someone and that he was the happiest that he had ever felt.  How could she compete with that?  Obviously she couldn’t which was why she was hiding away crying her heart out.

Why couldn’t it be her?

A noise roused Constance from her melancholy thoughts and she quickly wiped the tears away from her cheeks when she heard the King amongst the other members of the court.  Not wanting to be seen, Constance shrunk further into herself and hoped she would be ignored.

She saw the King walk past, regaling the people with him with a story of a recent hunt, all laughing on cue.  They did not see her, she was invisible to them but then there was Milady.  She turned her head and looked directly at her.

Constance felt a wave of anger wash over her.  She made her dislike of Milady no secret and she was even more outraged over how the King flaunted their affair in front of the Queen.  But something about this was different.  Milady often looked at Constance as though she was superior but her gaze this time was something else.  It was knowing.  She knew why Constance wept, it was in her eyes, and in that moment Constance knew that Milady was feeling the same despair she was. 

She now understood what was happening and d’Artagnan did not need to tell her who he was in love with.  She knew it was Athos.

Milady nodded briefly and silently before she rejoined the King’s company leaving Constance alone with nothing more than her despair.


End file.
